Sunday, October 2, 2016

China to finance Egypt’s $45 billion capital city in the desert

Egypt’s plan to build a glittering new capital city in the desert was written off by many as nothing more than a dream for a country with a struggling economy. That dream, however, appears headed for reality after China stepped in to bankroll much of the $45 billion project. China Fortune Land Development announced on Sept. 25 it would invest $20 billion in the project. That announcement followed the pledge of $15 billion from China’s state-owned construction company. Work has already begun for the as yet unnamed new capital 28 miles south of the current capital Cairo. The new city, located on a 270-square-mile slice of desert owned by the Egyptian army, would be home to some 5 million people. City planners envision a city with skyscrapers rivaling those in Dubai, green areas comparable to New York City’s Central Park, an international airport larger than London’s Heathrow and an amusement park on the scale of Disney World. Several hundred apartment buildings already have gone up in the new city, and construction crews are building roads and laying sewage lines. The target for completion of the new capital is 2021.

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